1. Stop running miles and miles and start endurance training instead. Running only burns calories while you do it, while resistance training will keep your body burning calories for hours, even while you sleep! Resistance training includes bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, or kettlebell training.
2. Make sure 90% of your diet is made up of lean meats, vegetables, fruits, fish, eggs, legumes, nuts and seeds. Drink water whenever possible.
3. Only use exercises that work your entire body, instead of just one muscle at a time. For example, a bicep curl only targets the arm muscle. A pushup, however, will train your arms, shoulders, core, and back muscles all in one go. The more muscles you use, the more calories you will burn!
4. Plan your exercise in terms of Quality (intensity), not Quantity (duration). A 20-minute hard workout is much more beneficial than a 60-minute light workout – anyone who tells you otherwise is either being misled or just lying to you.
5. Don’t use fixed resistance machines! The reason many people are overweight is because they sit all day. Do you really think that exercise machines that make you sit even more are going to help you? In fact, it just leads to a less firm rear end, which I’m sure isn’t what you want.
6. Do not listen to anyone who advises you not to eat fruit because it contains sugar. The obesity epidemic did NOT arise because we ate too many apples…
7. Fruit juice, on the other hand, is not good for you as the natural fiber has been removed. This allows the sugar to be converted into fat.
8. White bread, white pasta, most breakfast cereals and crackers, Ryvita crackers are also not good for you.
9. Foods labeled ‘healthy’ or ‘low fat’ are not better for you. This is because when the fat content is removed, manufacturers replace that fat with more sugar. Check the nutrition labels on the back if you don’t believe me…
10. Fat loss is NOT as simple as ‘Calories In vs. Calories Out’, even though that’s what the media tells us. If true, a person who eats 2,000 calories a day of ice cream should lose as much weight as a person who eats 2,000 calories of vegetables and meat. But we both know that’s not the case.
11. Controlling your hormones is important to getting in shape. The hormone cortisol is released in your body when you are stressed. This hormone causes your body to store more fat (particularly in women). So take steps to reduce the amount of stress in your life.
12. Another hormone, called insulin, is released in your body when you eat large amounts of sugar. The job of this hormone is to convert any unused sugar into fat. So avoid sugar!
13. Eat more healthy fats, from fish, eggs, oils, nuts and seeds. These fats are essential for boosting your metabolism and making your skin and hair healthier.
14. Depriving yourself of calories will only cause your body to store more fat. Your body just thinks it’s starving and reacts by clinging to your body weight for dear life.
15. Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day is fine. Eating 8 would be better.
16. Fiber foods are among the best you can eat. Porridge should be a staple of your diet.
17. The ‘Special K Challenge’ is a bunch of crap. Eat three small bowls of cereal (made from sugar) a day to lose weight? Yeah, okay, you’ll lose weight. But that weight will be mostly water, muscle, bone mass, and leftover sugar stored in the muscles. You will still have the same amount of fat on your body and you will probably look worse. And you will be depriving your body of essential fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals. That’s not healthy.
18. The key factor in a successful weight loss program is social support. When you exercise in a group setting, you’re much more likely to stay motivated and accountable to your peers. A fitness program like Bodyshape Bootcamp gives you that social support.
19. Walking is not exercise. It’s physical activity, something you should do every day in addition to a structured exercise program. I’m all for walking as much as possible, but I’m afraid it won’t burn belly fat.
20. Take action TODAY – nothing will happen and your body will not change unless you take that first step. Find a reputable local trainer or bootcamp group and get started now!
